can mood stabilizing meds actually make you stupid?

Answer 1

It is possible, but it depends on both the medication and the person with the mental health issues. If we are talking about the kinds of anti-psychotics perscribed for either severe bi-polar mood disorder, or for some kinds of schizophrenia, for example, then yeah, someone could "feel stupid" on them, just by virtue of not having such large flights of mood or such looseness of thoughts and associations...both of which can be mis-understood as a loss of creativity.

Problem is, that "feeling stupid" moment usually hits before folks realize that they are going to be more focused, disciplined, and attentive to what creativity still remains. Meaning early on it is too easy to see the bad side and not the good that is yet to come.

Compare this now to most modern anti-depressants, which function in part by *pruning* certain neurons so that serotonin flows can remain more even and balanced. In the beginning this isn't much of an effect and as the serotonin rises, so does the person's short-term memory and concentration as the mood lifts...assuming the meds work, of course.

But this is where the problem lies. Not all meds are created equal and not all of them work equally well for everyone. And some meds can even *stop working at all* some three to four years down the road, even after it's been established that they *do* work (or rather, *once did*).

Meaning? You can end up in a vicious cycle of having to try one mediocre batch of meds after the next after the next, and especially with some doctors who pair them up two or three at a time, after a few years of this trial and error *that pruning* mentioned above can lead to a cumulative and permanent hit on one's potential to either learn or retain new things.

So yeah, being dumbed-down by one's meds isn't unheard of, even if it is rarer than most folks think it is just from looking at side-effects from the *outside* looking in.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

hullo
no,mood stabilizing drugs control the mood only ,it have nothing to do with I.Q.


Dr.solo